CURE YOUR MIGRAINES

By Ian M. Kahane, MD

Nine out of ten adults in the U.S. suffer from severe headaches, and women are three times more likely than men to develop migraines. These painful headaches can affect individuals occasionally, frequently, or daily. Some migraines may be sharp and piercing, others may be dull and throbbing, but most migraines cause debilitating pain and nausea.

Migraines have existed since the dawn of humanity. They are a special type of head pain that is more intense than a regular headache. They are often accompanied by a constellation of other symptoms including nausea, numbness, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and others. Migraine symptoms and types can vary not only between people, but they can also vary from one migraine to the next within the same person.

Common Conditions that Exacerbate Migraine Headaches
• Muscle tension
• Allergies
• Bright lights
• Bulged discs
• Cheese
• Chocolate
• Preservatives
• Hormonal imbalance
• Hypermobility syndrome (joint disorder, usually genetic)
• Neck arthritis
• Red Wine
• Sleep deprivation
• Stress
• Strong odors
• Tight neck and shoulder muscles
• Weather conditions (barometric pressure)

For decades a deluge of medications, like topamax and propranolol, have been used to prevent migraines. There are also medications to help alleviate a migraine in progress like sumatriptan. These medications helped to make migraines tolerable, but for most people these meds remain insufficient. Around five years ago, a new type of medicine class emerged called CGRP antagonists. CGRP stands for Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide. Essentially, it is believed that there are receptors in your brain that when exposed to this CGRP it causes an inflammation that then triggers a terrible migraine. In fact, if you give a migraine sufferer CGRP directly into their blood, they will get an extremely intense migraine within 3-4 hours.

CGRP Antagonists
These new medicines block the movement of CGRP in one way or another. As of today, there are now five unique medicines in this class each of which preclude the movement of CGRP slightly differently. Anyone who suffers for more than 4 days a month with migraines can qualify for these medications so long as they have failed a few of the other less expensive, earlier options.

For most patients, these medicines reduce the frequency of their migraines by half. For some, they totally remove all migraines, and they never suffer again. In my own practice I have often seen people that suffer from 8 migraines a month, now have 2-3 migraines in a month. I have even seen people with 20 migraines a month go down to zero. Whether the cause of the migraine be hormonal, traumatic, genetic, or otherwise, these meds seem to largely help most migraine sufferers.

While going from enduring 8 days of terrible head pain down to 2-4 might not sound like a tremendous victory on the surface, at the end of the year 4 days x 12 months is a month and a half of your life back! An extra 48 days to enjoy, spend with family, work harder, work smarter, or just be you! Migraines are easy to identify, easy to manage, and as these medications become more ubiquitous, more and more primary care physicians & neurologists are going to get comfortable giving them. I strongly encourage you to talk to your physician about your migraines at your next visit, they may be curable.

Complete Care
Internal Medicine is a specialized kind of primary care physician field. Internal Medicine Doctors are just like your regular general practitioner or family doctor; however, they are trained to handle more complex and difficult diseases.

Internal Medicine doctors are just as happy treating simple sore throats and completing physicals for work or school, but they are also equipped to handle complex cases from heart disease to complicated autoimmune diseases.

Complete Care
Internal Medicine is a specialized kind of primary care physician field. Internal Medicine Doctors are just like your regular general practitioner or family doctor; however, they are trained to handle more complex and difficult diseases.

Internal Medicine doctors are just as happy treating simple sore throats and completing physicals for work or school, but they are also equipped to handle complex cases from heart disease to complicated autoimmune diseases.

Ian M. Kahane, MD MBA
Dr Kahane has wanted to become a physician since the age of 3. Very few children complete grade school, middle school, high school and beyond with a singular career vision in mind. However,

Dr. Kahane never wavered from his dream to become a physician.

From kindergarten straight through to medical school, Dr. Kahane never took any time off to achieve his dream. He completed his medical school at Ross University School of Medicine in 2015 and became an established member of the Bradenton community by becoming a part of the first ever residency class at Blake Medical Center.

While there he served 1 year as Chief Internal Medicine resident. He is proficient in complex patient care, autoimmune diseases, and everyday medical concerns. Dr. Kahane is fluent in both English and Spanish and is excited to join the Complete Care team.

In his spare time Dr Kahane enjoys the beach, water sports, politics, watching football, and spending time with his dog.

Come Experience the Difference at Complete Care.
Contact us at (941) 748-8069. completecaredocs.com